A judge has denied John Dougherty’s motion to move his extradition date to Monday, meaning the former Philadelphia labor leader will go to prison on Tuesday to begins his six-year sentence after being found guilty of bribery and embezzlement charges.
Dougherty requested that his surrender date be moved from Tuesday to Friday, October 25, but that was unsuccessful.
Dougherty was sentenced in July in Reading, Pennsylvania, to six years in prison for federal bribery and embezzlement after multiple high-profile trials.
“Look, I’m the boss. That’s what happens,” Dougherty said after his sentencing.
Dougherty, also known as “Johnny Doc,” was the former powerful union boss of IBEW Local 98 in Philadelphia. Prosecutors said Dougherty, who served as Local 98’s business manager, used union funds to pay contractors for work done at homes and businesses he owned. but also friends and family. He was also accused of using more than $600,000 in electricians union funds for personal purchases.
Dougherty’s first conviction occurred in 2021 on bribery and fraud charges related to the use of former councilman Bobby Henon to advance the work and projects for Local 98. Henon is serving a 3.5-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him along with Dougherty.
Dougherty wasn’t the only IBEW Local 98 member sentenced to prison.
Dougherty’s co-defendant, ex-union president Brian Burrowswas also found guilty in December. Burrows was accused of hiring a contractor, who was called as a key government witness at the trial, to do tens of thousands of dollars worth of renovation work on his home. Evidence showed that Burrows directed the contractor to submit the work bill directly to Local 98. Burrows was sentenced to four years in prison. Several members of Dougherty’s inner circle took plea deals.
After Dougherty’s conviction, he opened up CBS News Philadelphia in an exclusive interview about the trials and more.
In April 2024, a judge declared a mistrial in a racketeering case involving Dougherty and his cousin Greg Fiocca. Prosecutors alleged that Fiocca assaulted a contractor in August 2020. The jury told a Berks County judge it was deadlocked after a day of deliberations.
